Electrical wire bracket



April 18,1939. w. A. HEINRICH ELECTRICAL WIRE BRACI'U'S'Iv Filed Nov. 18, 1955 Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE/I 5 4891 ELECTRICAL wnm BRACKET Walter A. Heinrich, St. LouisiMoi, am o:- to James R. Kearney Corporation, St. Innis, Mm, a corporation of Missouri I 1 f Application November 18, 1935, Serial No. 50,262

7 Claims. (01. fails-1 1) This invention relates generally to brackets for body portion of the bracket so that said body portion may be screwed into flat contact with a wall or other supporting structure, even though the wood screw is screwed into the supporting structure at an angle to its proper position.

Prior to this invention, house brackets of the type to which this invention relates were pro-- vided with wood screws for securing the brackets to walls of buildings and other structures which were rigidly fixed to the insulating body portions of the brackets. Wiremen apply brackets of this type to structures by grasping the insulating body portions of the brackets and jamming the points of the wood screws into the structures, after which the brackets are rotated to screw the wood screws tions of the insulating body portions contact with the structures. Due to this method of applying the brackets to structures, the wood screws quite frequently are screwed into the structures at angles to their desired course, and when the wood screws are fixed rigidly to the insulating body portions of the brackets, as was the case prior to this invention, such angular introduction of the wood screws into the structures prevents the basev portions of the insulating body portions of the brackets from being brought into fiat contact.

with the faces of the structures to which the brackets are applied.

The improved bracket disclosed herein elimi- 40 nates the disadvantages mentioned above, inasmuch as the wood screw or the improved bracket structure is loosely connected to the insulating body portion of the bracket. Due to the flexibility between the wood screw and the insulating body portion of the improved bracket, the base portion of said insulating body portion may be screwed into flat contact with the structure to which the bracket is applied in spite of angular introduction of the wood screw into said structure.

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the improved bracket with parts shown in section. Fig. 2 is a view partly in elevation and part1 in section of the bracket shown in Fig. 1, bu

viewing same from a different angle.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on line [-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view illustrating the improved bracket applied to a supporting structure showinto the structures until faces at the base poring same as it appears when the wood screw thereoi is introduced into the supporting struc ture at an angle to its desired position. I

In'the drawing, wherein is shown for the purposeof illustration, merely, one embodiment of the invention, A designatesthe improved bracket generally. The bracket A includes a body portion I formed of porcelain or other suitable electrical insulating material, said body portion com prising a'knob portion 2 having a'wire-receiving opening; formed therethrough, and a base portion 4 provided with a face 4' which is adapted to contact with a face of a supporting structure to which the bracket is applied, as shown in Fig.. 5, wherein S designates the supporting structure:

The improved bracket includes also a wood screw iior securing the bracket to a supporting structure, as shown in Fig. 5, this wood screw being provided with a head portion 5 which is; of nonecircular shape, as shown in Fig. 3, where in. the screw head is square.

:In order to loosely connect the wood screw:

5 to the body portion I, the base portion 4 of said body. portion is provided with a cavity 6 which isopen at the face 4 of said base portion and has the cross-sectional shape illustrated in Fig. 3.

Located centrally within the cavity 6 is a sleeve 1 which hasthe longitudinal shape illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2; that is to say, the lower portion 1' of said sleeve 1 is circular in cross-section as shownby dotted lines in Fig. 3, while the upper portion l -of the sleeve is enlarged and is of noncircularcross-sectional shape as shown in Fig. 3, wherein the upper sleeve portion I is square in cross-section in correspondence with the shape oithe head portion 5' of the wood screw 5. The outer endportions of the walls of the portion 1 oithe, sleeve are flared outwardly, as shown in Figs. 1: and 2, and these flared wall portions contact, at their outer ends with the inner wall 6 of the cavity 6.

The sleeve 1 is secured in place within the.

cavity li -by abody 8 of lead, or other suitable material, which is poured into the space between the sidewall of the cavity and the outer face of the Sleeve in a molten condition. During the operation of pouring the molten material into the cavity 6 the sleeve is suitably held in its centeredposition within the cavity 6, and when said material hardens the sleeve is very securely fixed in place. Due to the non-circular shape of the cavity 6 and the body of material 8, said body of material is prevented from rotating within the cavity if looseness develops between the body of 7 material 8 and the wall of the cavity. Also, to key the body-of material 8 within the cavity 6 so that it may not move longitudinally within said cavity ifloosenessdevelops between the body of material and; the wall of the cavity, transversely extended cuts 8' are provided in the wall of the cavity into which the molten material flows when the body of material 8 is being formed (see Figs. 3 and 4).

The wood screw 5 is assembled with the sleeve 1 when said sleeve is secured in place within the cavity 6 by pouring molten material into said cavity, as heretofore described, with the head portion 5 of the wood screw disposed within the portion lb of the sleeve and with the shank portion of said wood screw extended through the portion I of the sleeve and extended outwardly beyond the base portion 4 of the body portion l of the bracket. The head portion of the wood screw fits loosely within the portion l of the sleeve, and the space between the shoulders 1 of the sleeve and the inner wall 6 of the cavity is sufliciently large to permit the head portion of the wood screw to move longitudinally slightly within said sleeve portion l Also, the inner diameter of the sleeve portion 1 is sufficiently large with respect to the diameter of the shank portion of the wood screw to permit said shank portion to move laterally within said sleeve portion 1*. Thus the wood screw 5 is very securely but loosely attached to the body portion I of the bracket, so that said wood screw and said body portion may move with respect to each other.

In applying the improved bracket to a. supporting structure the body portion l thereof is grasped by the person applying the bracket, and the point of the wood screw 5 is jammed into the supporting structure. The body portion is then rotated to cause the wood screw to be screwed into the supporting structure, rotary motion being transmitted from the body portion l to the wood screw through contact of the correspondingly shaped, adjacent faces of the head of the wood screw and the portion l of the sleeve 1. If it should happen that the wood screw is screwed into the supporting structure at an angle to its true or desired course, the loose or flexible attachment between the wood screw and the body portion will nevertheless permit the face 4' of the base portion 4 of said body portion to be brought into fiat contact with the face of the supporting structure, as shown in Fig. 5, due to the fact that said body portion may adjust itself relative to the wood screw as it moves into contact with said face of the supporting structure.

I claim:

1. A bracket of the class described, comprising a body portion provided with a cavity, an attaching element for securing the bracket to a support, said attaching element including a shank portion provided with a non-circular head at one end, and means for loosely connecting said attaching element to said body portion, said means including a sleeve having a non-circular part within which the head of said attaching element is loosely disposed and a part through which the shank portion of the attaching element is loosely extended, and means for securing said sleeve within said cavity.

2. A bracket of the class described, comprising a body portion provided with a cavity, an attaching element for securing the bracket to a support, said attaching element including a shank portion provided with a non-circular head at one end, and means for loosely connecting said attaching element to said body portion, said means including a sleeve having a non-circular part within which the head of said attaching element is loosely disposed and a part, circular in cross-section, through which the shank portion of the attaching element is loosely extended, and means for securing said sleeve within said cavity.

3. A bracket of the class described, comprising a body portion provided with a cavity, an attaching element for securing the bracket to a support, said attaching element including a shank portion provided with a non-circular head at one end, and means for loosely connecting said attaching element to said body portion, said means including a sleeve having a non-circular part provided with flared wall portions within which the head of said attaching element is loosely disposed and a part through which the shank portion of the attaching element is loosely extended, and means for securing said sleeve within said cavity.

4. A bracket of the class described, comprising a body portion provided with a cavity, an attaching element for securing the bracket to a support, said attaching element including a shank portion provided with a non-circular head at one end, and means for loosely connecting said attaching element to said body portion, said means including a sleeve having a non-circular part within which the head of said attaching element is loosely disposed and a part, circular in cross-section and of reduced diameter, through which the shank portion of the attaching element is loosely extended, and means for securing said sleeve within said cavity.

5. A bracket of the class described, comprising a body portion provided with a cavity, an attaching element for securing the bracket to a support, said attaching element including a shank portion provided with a non-circular head at one end, and means for loosely connecting said attaching element to said body portion, said means including a sleeve having a non-circular part within which the head of said attaching element is loosely disposed and a part through which the shank portion of the attaching element is loosely extended, and means comprising a body of material arranged within said cavity for securing said sleeve within said cavity.

6. A bracket of the class described, comprising a body portion provided with a cavity, an attaching element for securing the bracket to a support, said attaching element including a shank portion provided with a non-circular head at one end, and means for loosely connecting said attaching element to said body portion, said means including a sleeve having a non-circular part within which the head of said attaching element is loosely disposed and a part through which the shank portion of the attaching element is loosely extended, and means comprising a body of material arranged within said cavity for securing said sleeve within said cavity, said body of material and said cavity being of such shape as to key the body of material in place and prevent accidental displacement of the body of material from the cavity.

7. A bracket of the class described, comprising a body portion, an attaching element for securing the bracket to a support, said attaching element including an enlarged noncircular head portion and a shank portion, there being a shoulder at the junction of the enlarged head portion and the shank of the attaching element, and means for loosely connecting the attaching element to the body portion for lateral movement with respect thereto, said means including a sleeve having a noncircular portion in which the noncircular head portion of the attaching element is disposed and being provided with a shoulder with which the shoulder of the attaching element contacts, and means for securing said sleeve in said body portion.

WALTER A. HEINRICH. 

